


Arms Unfolding

by emperoxgrayland



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Anxiety, F/M, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Friends With Benefits, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Roommates, Sharing a Bed, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-22
Updated: 2020-01-23
Packaged: 2021-02-27 05:35:36
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,836
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22361944
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/emperoxgrayland/pseuds/emperoxgrayland
Summary: It's messy. Ben can't sleep after his discharge from the Marines. Rey's a med student who can't focus on her exams because of her one sided love with Poe. Rose offers a solution - a blind date to get their minds off their worries. But one date can change the course of everything(Rey and Ben are roommates for necessity. It's really just that - Hijinks ensue)
Relationships: Armitage Hux/Rose Tico, Kylo Ren/Rey, Rey & Ben Solo | Kylo Ren, Rey/Ben Solo
Comments: 15
Kudos: 95





	Arms Unfolding

"Rey, what the fuck?"

He tried to put her robe back on her, he really did, but she pushed his hands away and pushed him towards the bed. 

It was comical. He wasn't a puny man, and she was tiny compared to him, but he thuds, butt first on the bed anyway, loses balance and gave space for Rey to climb on to him, her heat against his stomach.

"We are so not doing this. I am not doing this. Poe will-"

She bends her head down and presses her lips to his. And he tried he really did, but he was just a dude. With a naked girl. That is eager to fuck him. 

Even if she was Rey.

Rey who was in love with someone else. 

Shit.

He pushes her away, despite the fact that his pants are getting tight, his dick not caring who this was, all it knows was that there's a possibility it could get wet.

"You're in love with Poe. And he has weird complicated feelings for you, we can't do this. I can't do this."

Her face softens and she grips his hair in her hands and hums in appreciation.

He certainly did not press his head into her hands. He also certainly did not close his eyes and moan at her touch. 

"Poe's not in love with me. And I want to stop loving Poe. Help me Ben. You're my only hope."

She leans forward, her breasts literally brushing his mouth as she laps at his ears and he shudders, his hands clenched so tightly into fists so he wouldn't touch her.

He didn't even dare look at her. He kept his eyes on hers. But her tongue was doing wicked wicked things to his ear. 

"Rey this is dangerous. This is bad." He keened, as she wrapped traced her lips down his ear to his jaw, nipping there then licking a stripe straight down to his neck where she sucked at the skin.

Sighing, he closes his eyes, and wraps his arms around her, her breasts crushed against his chest. She continues lapping at his skin, but he keeps a tight hold on her and soon, soon he felt the first drip of her tears against his neck, until her arms were winding around him, and she's buried her nose in his shoulder and he holds her, just holds her.

"Zorii being here really hurt you, didn't it."

"I don't want to feel this way anymore Ben. I can't. I won't survive it."

He tugs her back, her arms still locked tight around him. 

Her eyes were red and swollen, and there was snot dripping from her nose. Smiling at here he wipes it with his fingers. 

"Ben, no that's disgusting!"

He wipes the snot on his pants, shrugging. 

"If I do what you want, you'll be taking something more disgusting from me."

It takes a while for her to register what he said and then she snickers, hitting his shoulder.

There, her smile. Bright and toothy, that hasn't been there for a long while. Not since Poe... asshole that he is, did this to her. 

"You can't fuck Poe out of your system Rey. This isn't the way to do it."

He brushed her hair back as her hands unlocked from his neck to scratch at his scalp. 

She always loved his hair, always patting him there, or rubbing at him there, asking him for advice on what conditioner to use to get his luscious locks. 

"I'm a 25 year old virgin."

"There's nothing-"

"No. There isn't. I was fine being a virgin all my life. Now I'm not. And I don't want to be just the heart broken girl crying and mooning over Poe Dameron. That can't be the great story of my twenties. I want romance, I want adventure, I want drunken mistakes I can laugh at when I'm 45. I want a life! But I also want my first time to be with someone I love. Someone I trust. I always imagined it would be Poe. God, I had my whole life mapped out and imagined with Poe. But that's never going to happen. It's never going to happen, Ben."

She shushed him when he opened his mouth to say otherwise. 

"I can't do that while I'm like this. So. Fuck Poe out of my system Ben." 

He really shouldn't be turned on right now. She just spent the day crying, in his apartment. He shouldn't want to do this. 

Except he does. He really, really does. 

He tugs at her hair, his hands brushing dangerously close to her breasts.

"There's no going back if we do this."

"I don't want to go back. I want this with you Ben."

"Okay."

"Okay?"

"I'll fuck Dameron out of your system."

She smiles and leans down to kiss him but he rears up and pins her underneath him, the breath wooshing out of her.

"And then, I'm going to fuck me into it. You won't be able to walk without feeling me."

She gasps and her pupils blow up, and she rears his head and kisses him.

This was a mistake, he knows.

But damn if it wasn't beautiful.

\---

**6 months ago**

"You should... try a dating app."

"I don't want to go on Tinder, Rose!"

"You're cooped up in this hospital, and... you're still not over Poe."

"Yeah... screw Poe. But I'm still not going on Tinder."

"One date, Rey!"

Rose tugged her laptop from her clutches and she groans, burying her face in her arms. "I'm a fourth year medical student, I don't have time for Tinder."

"Okay then a double date."

Rey looks up, suspicious eyes at Rose. "You planned this."

Rose shrugs and shows her a photo. "His name's Ben. He's Armie's friend. Kind of a spazz, socially awkward, but Armie loves him like a brother. And well... he's your type."

"I don't have a type."

"You do. Poe looks nothing like your type, and I don't know why you fell for that short motherfucker, but... Ben's hot. I've seen it for myself. And trust me when I say Solo's your type. Gosh, Solo is so your type."

"Are you sure it's me or you're projecting because you want to date your boyfriend's best friend?"

"Rey... you will thank me when you see Ben."

She ponders for a second. She hasn't been on a date in... ever. With trying to get into medschool and then... Poe. 

She looks at his photo again... he had long hair, and a long straight nose, and piercing eyes. He was attractive sure... but not beautiful. Not like Poe.

"One date."

"Just one."

"Fine."

\---

"She's hung up on some guy."

"And you want me to date her?"

"No, idiot, just... you won't hurt her because she won't fall madly in love with you only for you to like... bail. When's the last time you went out with a human being?"

"Hux-"

"No. Snoke is behind you. You can't do this Solo."

He sighs, raking a hand through his hair. "If this girl makes me do shit to get this guy jealous-"

"She won't. She just has to move on. She's... a medical student. Rose says she's been failing shit because of her heartbreak. You just, have to shake her out of her funk."

"A _doctor_?"

He feels it, the familiar acceleration of his heart beat. 

"Yes. She's a student, she won't know."

There were images pressing into his head, all the blood, all the screaming.

"Ben!"

He shoves it away. It's been years. Years. 

"If she's in med school how young is this kid?"

"25."

"Jesus, Armie."

"It's just five years, it's not that big of a deal. Just... meet her, please? And stop this?"

"One date?"

"One date."

\---

"Hi. Rey Johnson?"

"Yes?"

Her breath catches in her throat. 

He was tall. So tall, that when she swivelled on her chair from the tiny coffee shop couch, she had to trail her eyes up, past a broad chest that filled out his white shirt to perfection, past the slight stuble on his chin, past his nose, that she thought was large on a photo but was strangely aristocratic on his face and she meets his eyes.

Heat floods her, his eyes were warmed honey, liquid and molten as they looked into hers. 

All of this was framed by his gorgeous, gorgeous hair, that fell in curls down the sides of his face. She wonders what he would do if she touched his hair, gripped it as she-

She catches herself and mentally slaps herself as she imagines it. She will not molest Rose's boyfriend's friend. 

"Ben-" She clears her throat as she croaks, realizing how dry her mouth has gone at the sight of him. "Ben Solo?"

He grins, grimly and takes the seat opposite hers. 

"Where's Hux?"

Ben scowled and fiddled with the ring he wore on his index finger. 

"Ditched. Said he has the runs. Rose?"

She sighed and buried her face in her hands. "Aunt Flow."

"I'm sorry what?"

"You know..." 

She made a vague gesture to her nether parts and Ben Solo, big man, flushes, and she smirks because it reaches even his adorable ears peeking out from underneath all the hair. 

"I see. It seems our friends have ditched us."

He fidgets in his seat, as she takes her time sipping her hot chocolate before he sighs. "Look, Rey, I'm not good at this. And I know you're only in here because Rose forced you to be here to get over your one sided crush but... I'm not going to be the guy that saves you. You can just tell them I was a dick, it won't be news to Hux, then you never have to be set up with me again."

She sighs, nodding her head. 

"I didn't want to be here either. I just thought, if I just go out, maybe I can move on from Poe."

"Poe?"

She rolls her eyes, feeling the familiar pull in her gut when she thinks of Poe smiling, thinks of that month they spent together in Canto Bight, as exchange medical students. They had fun there. She almost thought... she almost thought he loved her. 

"I'm sorry you probably don't want to hear it. I drove all my friends crazy because all I could talk about was Poe. You can go. I actually like sitting by myself in a coffee shop. Makes me feel better about... everything wrong in my life."

It couldn't be, Ben thought. It just couldn't be. But she went to Jedi University. She was in medicine. And she was of the age...

"I'm sorry... are we talking about... Poe Dameron?"

Her eyes widen. And she sputters. "How did... how did you know Poe?"

He scowls, sitting in front of her, now interested in her situation. 

"He was my neighbor. in Chandrilla. Went to high school with him for a while then he went of to the University and I... went elsewhere. He was everyone's golden boy." Including his own mother. Why won't you be more like Poe? Why don't you go to Jedi U? What would your Uncle Luke say.

"You're in love with Poe Dameron."

"Yes."

He looks at her again. He initially pegged her as beautiful, but in a quiet way. The kind an old oak tree speaks to you, you'd have to sit down look at her and appreciate. She wasn't a passing spring bloom, she was beautiful for all seasons. The smile was what got to him though, all tooth and eye crinkling and it was like having the sun beam down on him as she passed.

Dameron remains to be an idiot. 

"And you want to get over him?"

"Yes."

"Okay. I'll help you."

"What?"

"We'll date. We'll do what Rose and Hux wants. You try and get Dameron off your mind."

She looks at him with suspicion in her eyes. 

"And what do you get out of it?"

"Payback. Never did like motherfucking Dameron."

Her eyes widen at his cuss and she laughs, setting her coffee down and reaching a hand out to him. 

"I don't like motherfucking Dameron too right now. You got yourself a deal."

He takes her hand, engulfing it in his own. Her hand was tiny in his, warm and it sent weird tingles up his hand. He was almost reluctant to let her go.

\---

He didn't do small talk.

And neither did she. 

Her first topic of choice was how she was orphaned, left behind at a dumpster in Jakku. Raised by the system, she got on enough scholarships to go to college, then medical school. 

He admired her grit and wondered why a great girl like her fell for Dameron.

"Poe was my best friend. When we were in second year we were paired together for surgery. He was... probably the first person to be kind to me. He asked me for lunch, we went for calls together, he was... there. Just there. And for the first time in my life I felt seen. He remembered little things about me that I shared. And then he changed. He got uncomfortable with the situation. He said we were too close, that he didn't really get it. Why I think of him as such a close friend when he did nothing to earn it."

She blows out a breath and leans against the railing overlooking the sea, her frozen yogurt melted in it's tiny cup. 

"I don't know, the thing with Poe is complicated. I don't even know why we're fighting. But the core of it is he can't return my feelings. And I got angry at him for that. I just... I can't. Anymore. I can't be the girl that's just in love with him."

She huffs and turns to him. 

"Anyway enough about me. How about you? How did you become a pilot?"

"My father. He's a pilot."

"Did you always want to be a pilot?"

"No." His voice shakes, the images threaten to blur and coalesce. "No," he tries again. "I was in the military for a while. I was in the Marines."

"Wow, that must be tough. Why did you get out?"

He shudders, the screams getting louder in his ears. His hands shake and he struggles, resisting the urge to cover his ears and scream.

"Ben?"

She touches him, just a hand on his arm, and the screams recede, and there was only her hand, on his arm, and the warmth it gives off. The silence astounds him. His head has never been silent before.

He blinks. Looking at her in wonder. He hasn't... how did she...

His hands grip hers, and she shuffles on her feet, clearly uncomfortable but she lets him hold her. Because there was something.

"I... How would you like to sleep with me tonight?"

" _What_?"

\---

He's never told anyone before, about the visions, the screams, the nightmares. 

But he hasn't slept in a week. 

And when she touched him... they faded. The screams, the voices, the noise that was always in his head despite the therapy and the medication. 

It was simple, the excuse he gave. A way to rile Dameron. Just that.

But she seemed to understand him. 

"Ben, I am a doctor you know." She says as she wears his shirt and his boxers and lays beside him. She was on her side, head pillowed on her hands looking at him as she reaches out to touch his cheek, and trace his nose. 

PTSD. 

The word hovers in between the both of them. 

But she doesn't say anything except to open her arms and to tap at her chest.

He moves slowly, awkwardly, shifting in his bed to hers, laying his head where her heart beat against his ear, and he shudders, because the steady thrum of her heart silences everything else. She wraps her arms around him holds tight.

"You've known me for a day."

Why are you here? How will you know I'm not a serial killer?

"It's like I've known you all my life."

And he nods and closes his eyes, because it's true. It did feel like that. In many ways it was like that.

For the first time in a long time, Ben sleeps. And he has no nightmares.

\---

She wakes up wrapped. And hot.

The covers were all kicked down to her legs. And there was a heavy weight against her stomach, and over her legs.

She couldn't exactly move, but she was... so comfortable, and so warm.

She burrows into the weight, and it responded pulling her in closer, and tighter.

She was...

With Ben. She remembers with sudden clarity.

She was with Ben. 

She blinks her eyes open and looks down at his face. He was more relaxed in sleep, his jaw slack, mouth open and drooling on his pillow. She touches his hair, that was more poofy and wild in the humidity and she grins at the softness of it. 

She rakes her entire hand through just petting him, until he blinks, bleary eyes onto her, and purring into her hand, effectively pressing his morning wood against her.

"Hi."

"Hi."

"I slept."

There was wonder in his tone, at the gift she has given him. And her heart softens and melts for him. He shouldn't have to suffer like this. 

"Are you seeing anyone for this Ben?"

He sighs and burrows into her, head ducking down to her neck.

"Armie said you wouldn't notice."

"Please you're textbook USMLE case."

Shit. Her exams. She freezes and pulls away from Ben, shuffling at the sudden anxiety peaking.

"Hey. Hey. It's okay."

His large hand rubs at her back. Soothing, lulling her, and she curves around him, cradling his head against her neck. 

"Armie told me you were failing."

"I can't pass my pre-boards."

"Because of Dameron."

"Yes."

He shuffles because this was madness. Because he knew her for less than 24 hours. Because... she was practically a stranger, and he was a stranger and this made no sense. This was madness. 

But sometimes... all the best ideas are. 

"Why don't you spend the nights here. Like... to study. I can calm you... you can... help me sleep? Just... until your exams."

She blinks and he knows it was mad, knows it. But she grins. 

"At this point, I just want to be somewhere that doesn't remind me of him. That's you Ben."

He ducks down again burrowing against her, not wanting to show how much he liked having her.

Her collarbone looked so inviting, so delicious. 

"Hey, Rey?"

"Yeah?"

"Are you seeing Poe tonight?"

"Yeah, why?"

He grins and latches on her neck. Sucking at her until she was breathless and writhing against him.

\---

"Rey Johnson!"

She hears Rose scream at her from the student room where they were supposed to have a lecture. 

"Rose Tico?"

"You didn't come home last night! I know it was bad that I set you up but you should have at least called me, even though you were angry! Where were you?"

She flushes, as several heads swivel over to them at Rose's revelation. 

From the corner of her eye she sees Poe, who she hasn't spoken to in months since they fought about Zorii and her snide comments, turn in to them, a frown on his face.

"I... I got caught up."

Rose's eyes narrowed as she inspected the shirt that Rey was in.

"Your shirt's giant."

She hoped it would appear stylish. She recycled her dark pants, and borrowed one of Ben's belts to make it look chic.

"And that's a hell of an expensive shirt. Where did you get that?"

"I uh-"

And then Rose's eyes widened, cleared and guffawed.

"I KNEW IT! I KNEW SOLO WAS YOUR TYPE!"

Rey flushed and tugged at Rose, ordering her to shush.

"Who's Solo?" Kaydel, one of their group mates sat next to her and nudged her. "Rey, did you finally get fucked?"

"Judging from her outfit and the fact that she didn't go home last night I would say she got fucked good."

"ROSE!"

"Good, about time."

"JESS. Oh God."

"Who's the guy?"

"Ben Solo." Rose replies as Rey prayed for the Earth to open up and swallow her whole. 

"Who's that?" Jess asked, inching closer to Rey. 

"It's Armitage's friend from the Marines. He works as a pilot now. Here let me show you"

Rose shows her the same photo she showed Rey, and then another, of him beside Armitage, showcasing his broad shoulders, his arms that popped out against the black shirt, and his hair, slicked back, falling in those waves... that reminded her of a Disney prince framing his face. He was smiling here, and God his smile does things to her.

Jessica took the photo, looked at it then at Rey and back again. 

"How tall is this guy?"

"He's like... 6 foot 4 why?"

Jessica whistled and patted Rey. 

"You're a champ Johnson. I'm surprised you're still walking today. Just a finger on that guy must be... you know. Can't imagine what his... thing is like."

"OH MY GOD JESS!" She hits Jessica as she laughs at her discomfort. 

"You have to tell me everything tonight. Jess, wanna sleep over at ours?"

She fidgeted in her seat and spoke before she lost the courage.

"I can't tonight cause I'm seeing Ben again."

She flushes at Rose's sudden silence and Jessica's intake of breath. 

"You're fucking monster cock two days in a row?" was said concurrently with "OH MY GOD SOLO IS SO YOUR TYPE" and she had to promise to detail to both of them what fucking Ben Solo was like before they shut up and left her alone. 

Through it all she can feel a familiar heat burning in the base of her neck and when she turns, Poe Dameron was indeed staring at her. 

\---

"Nice shirt."

He says as he stands behind her in the water cooler line. And she smiles wanly and faces forward again. 

"I never pegged you for someone who'd like Ben Solo."

"He's a great guy."

Poe stiffens beside her. "Why are you defending him?"

"I'm not. I'm... he's just a great guy."

"Be careful, you don't know what Ben was like. I grew up with him."

"How do you even know it's the same Ben?"

"Cause I asked Rose. Ben's bad news Rey, you deserve someone better. Of course, that's just my advise, you should do whatever you want."

"It's none of your business who I go out with Poe!" She turns to jab at him with her finger, but stills when his eyes fix on her neck, and she watches his eyes darken and his jaw clench. 

"Yeah well, do whatever you want Rey." And he walks off. It wasn't until Rose pointed out her hickey that Rey realized what Poe was looking at. And he was very obviously jealous. And she thinks Ben's plan might work after all. 


End file.
